Digital Technologies and African Societies

Digital Cognitive Technologies is an interdisciplinary book which assesses the socio-technical stakes of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), which are at the core of the ?Knowledge Society.? This book addresses eight major issues, analyzed by authors writing from a Human and Social Science and a Science and Technology perspective. The contributions seek to explore whether and how ICTs are changing our perception of time, space, social structures and networks, document writing and dissemination, sense-making and interpretation, cooperation, politics, and the dynamics of collective activity (socio-informatics).

Lithic Materials and Paleolithic Societies provides a detailed examination of the Paleolithic procurement and utilization of the most durable material in the worldwide archaeological record. The volume addresses sites ranging in age from some of the earliest hominin occupations in eastern and southern Africa to late Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene occupations in North American and Australia. The Early Paleolithic in India and the Near East, the Middle Paleolithic in Europe, and the Late Paleolithic in Europe and eastern Asia are also considered. The authors include established researchers who provide important synthetic statements updated with new information. Recent data are reported, often by younger scholars who are becoming respected members of the international research community. The authors represent research traditions from nine countries and therefore provide insight into the scholarly present as well as the Paleolithic past. Attempts are frequently made to relate lithic procurement and utilization to the organization of societies and even broader concerns of hominin behaviour. The volume re-evaluates existing interpretations­ in some instances by updating previous work of the authors ­and offers provocative new interpretations that at times call into question some basic assumptions of the Paleolithic. This book will be invaluable reading for advanced students and researchers in the fields of palaeolithic archaeology, geoarchaeology, and anthropology.

Edited and authored by leading experts from top institutions in Europe, the US and Asia, this comprehensive overview of micro- and nanophotonics covers the physical and chemical fundamentals, while clearly focusing on the technologies and applications in industrial R&D. As such, the book reports on the four main areas of telecommunications and display technologies; light conversion and energy generation; light-based fabrication of materials; and micro- and nanophotonic devices in metrology and control.

This book provides an in-depth guide to femtocell technologies In this book, the authors provide a comprehensive and organized explanation of the femtocell concepts, architecture, air interface technologies, and challenging issues arising from the deployment of femtocells, such as interference, mobility management and self-organization. The book details a system level simulation based methodology addressing the key concerns of femtocell deployment such as interference between femto and macrocells, and the performance of both femto and macrocell layers. In addition, key research topics in interference modeling and mitigation, mobility management and Self-Organizing Network (SON) are highlighted. The authors also introduce HNB/HeNB standardization in 3GPP.. Furthermore, access methods (closed, open and hybrid), applications, timing synchronization, health issues, business models and security are discussed. The authors also provide a comparison between femtocells and other indoor coverage techniques such as picocells, repeaters, distributed antenna systems and radio over fiber. Lastly, both CDMA and OFDMA based femtocells are covered. Key Features: Provides a comprehensive reference on femtocells and related topics Offers the latest research results on femtocells based on simulation and measurements Gives an overview of indoor coverage techniques such as picocells, repeaters, distributed antenna systems, radio over fiber and femtocells Includes chapters on femtocell access network architecture, air interface technologies (GSM, UMTS, HSPA, WiMAX and LTE), femtocell simulation, interference analysis and mitigation in femto/macrocell networks, mobility management in femto/macrocell networks, femtocell self-organization and other key challenges such as timing synchronization and security faced by femtocell deployment Points to over 240 references from 3GPP, The Femto Forum, journals and conference proceedings This book will be an invaluable guide for RF engineers from operators, R&D engineers from femtocells hardware manufacturers, employees from regulatory bodies, radio network planners, academics and researchers from universities and research organizations. Students undertaking wireless communications courses will also find this book insightful.

Hydrogen storage is considered a key technology for stationary and portable power generation especially for transportation. This volume covers the novel technologies to efficiently store and distribute hydrogen and discusses the underlying basics as well as the advanced details in hydrogen storage technologies. The book has two major parts: Chemical and electrochemical hydrogen storage and Carbon-based materials for hydrogen storage. The following subjects are detaled in Part I: • Multi stage compression system based on metal hydrides; • Metal-N-H systems and their physico-chemical properties; • Mg-based nano materials with enhanced sorption kinetics; • Gaseous and electrochemical hydrogen storage in the Ti-Z-Ni; • Electrochemical methods for hydrogenation/dehydrogenation of metal hydrides. In Part II the following subjects are addressed: • Activated carbon for hydrogen storage obtained from agro-industrial waste; • Hydrogen storage using carbonaceous materials; • Hydrogen storage performance of composite material consisting of single walled carbon nanotubes and metal oxide nanoparticles; • Hydrogen storage characteristics of graphene addition of hydrogen storage materials; • Discussion of the crucial features of hydrogen adsorption of nanotextured carbon-based materials.

Identity and Participation in Culturally Diverse Societies presents an original discussion in an edited volume of how the links between identity, political participation, radicalization, and integration can provide a scientific understanding of the complex issue of coexistence between groups in culturally diverse societies. Offers a scientific understanding of the complex issue of coexistence between groups in culturally diverse societies Utilizes original theory which combines social psychology, sociology, and political science Includes an original and extensive discussion of combining the concepts of identity and diversity Innovatively and engagingly employs the latest research and state-of-the-art theory

Between cases of study, theoretical panorama and practical reflections, this book gives brand leaders the means to defend their brand in a changing environment, where new technologies and manipulation techniques have rendered old defense schemes obsolete. Rather than suggesting a reflection from the point of view of the crisis, the authors deal with the question under another, broader theme: conflict.

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.

Building on the success of the first edition, Mobile Messaging Technologies and Services offers extensive new and revised material based upon the latest research and industry developments. While early implementations targeted person-to-person messaging, MMS has now evolved to facilitate such requirements as the mass delivery of time-sensitive messages for content-to-person messaging. This Second Edition exploits the technical maturity of MMS as it is poised to generate a wealth of new business opportunities across the mobile communications sector. The author provides the fundamental technical background required for SMS, EMS and MMS, and supports this with industry cutting-edge developments. ● Contains a revised section on the fundamentals of MMS, including an updated section on GPRS to explain current commercial implementations such as GRX applications. ● Presents the latest developments in MMS standardization, including the design of synchronized multimedia integration language (SMIL) presentations, Digital Rights Management (DRM), transcoding techniques, postcard service and support of advanced multimedia formats. ● Describes the processes for standardizing telecommunications services and technologies (3GPP, OMA, GSM Association, IETF and W3C). ● Provides updated sections on SMS, EMS and heavily revised coverage of the developments in MMS, including MMS interworking and the forthcoming MMS version 1.3. This resource will be invaluable for application developers, manufacturers, operators and content providers involved in the design and deployment of messaging services. It will also be of interest to practitioners involved in the process of standardizing telecommunications services and technologies. Postgraduate students and researchers will benefit from having access to state-of-the-art findings backed by numerous illustrative real-world examples. Includes a companion website featuring information on relevant standards, available phones and developers’ resources.

Sustainable Agriculture Systems and Technologies A robust treatment of traditional and new techniques in sustainable agriculture In Sustainable Agriculture Systems and Technologies, a team of distinguished researchers delivers an up-to-date and comprehensive exploration of sustainable agriculture and its relationship to the drivers of climate change. Along with robust examinations of food security and the agrarian livelihood, the book covers the impact of climate change and variability on agriculture, water management in agricultural systems, and precision agriculture. This book represents a significant contribution to the scientific understanding of the application of technologies that address food insecurity and climate change through sustainable productivity, system diversification, irrigation practices, crop modeling, data analytics, and agricultural policy. It also explores the risks and benefits of different agricultural systems under changing climate scenarios. The book also offers: A thorough introduction to agriculture and food security, including the diversification of ecosystems and the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on food security and smallholder agricultural systems Comprehensive explorations of crop diversification and the impacts of climate variability on food security in Indonesia Practical discussions of water conservation agriculture and the quality of irrigation water for sustainable agriculture development in India In-depth examinations of geoinformatics, artificial intelligence, sensor technology, and big data Perfect for academics, scientists, environmentalists, and environmental consultants, Sustainable Agriculture Systems and Technologies will also earn a place in the libraries of computing experts working in the field of agricultural science.